WINSLOW — The Winslow High School football team sputtered on its opening drive, but that was the only time the Black Raiders slowed down on Saturday afternoon.
Paced by junior Nate St. Amand’s four first half touchdowns, the Black Raiders cruised to a 63-0 win over Big Ten Conference newcomer John Bapst of Bangor at Poulin Field. Winslow is 2-0, winning its games by a combined 106-0 score. John Bapst is now 1-1.
“It was a good team win, on offense and defense,” Winslow coach Mike Siviski said.
St. Amand gained 273 all-purpose yards, all in the first half. St. Amand had touchdown runs of 87, 44, and 41 yards, and his 45-yard punt return for a score with just under two minutes to play in the first half staked Winslow to a 49-0 halftime lead.
The Black Raiders first possession ended with a lost fumble at their own 44, but after forcing the Crusaders to punt, Winslow started to click. St. Amand’s 87-yard touchdown run down the left sideline gave Winslow a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
“I think we came out kind of slow. Once we got that (touchdown), we set the pace from there,” St. Amand said.
Nat Beckwith recovered a fumble in the end zone on the final play of the first quarter to push Winslow’s lead to 14-0. After a 19-yard punt return by St. Amand gave the Black Raiders the ball at the Bapst 36, Trenton Bouchard connected with Dylan Hutchinson for a 36-yard touchdown pass. Three plays later, Luke Fredette’s 17-yard interception return for a score gave Winslow a 28-0 lead.
St. Amand scored three of his four touchdowns in the final eight minutes of the second quarter. His touchdown runs of 44 and 41 yards on back-to-back possessions gave Winslow a 42-0 lead. St. Amand capped his strong half with the punt return with 1:53 to play before halftime. St. Amand sprinted down the right sideline, diving over a Bapst defender to cross the goal line.
“I just saw open field. Nat Beckwith had a pretty nice block down by the end zone,” St. Amand said. “(The Bapst player) was laying down on the ground in front of me, so I just went for it.”
With the starters in the game in the first half, the Black Raiders outgained the Crusaders, 303 yards to nine. Winslow’s defense did a nice job preventing Crusader runners from getting to the outside. The Black Raiders also contained Bapst’s quick passing game. John Bapst quarterback Andrew DeTour completed 8 of 14 passes for 24 yards, with two interceptions.
Winslow scored twice in the second half, on a 4-yard run by Gage Naborowsky and an 89-yard run by Ryan Fredette.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM
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